The true essence of survival horror has been lost in recent years. This is no more evident than in the Resident Evil franchise; once the poster boy of the genre, now little more than a shoot-em-up where ammo, health and save games are all too easily obtainable. This is not the case with DayZ, which adapts the principles of survival horror in a massive multiplayer context, reaching ingenious heights of realism. In the game, not only do you have to scavenge food and drink from the ruined towns and settlements to survive but you also have to contend with all manner of other issues. "They're some delicious looking tins of food you've found, but do you have a tin opener?" "That food looks like it could be rotten and that waters looking none too clean either..." These are just some of the realistic touches present in the game to make survival all the more difficult. Incidentally, the ingestion of rancid foods can result in diseases such as cholera, dysentery and hepatitis, which each require a specific medicine to survive.
Hailing from South East London, Sam Heard is an aspiring writer and recent graduate from the University of Warwick. Sam's favourite things include energy drinks, late nights spent watching the UFC with his girlfriend and annihilating his friends at FIFA.
